10.03 What data do you really WANT colleges to collect about you?

With all the negative news about data collection these days, you may be surprised to learn that there is some information you'd really like colleges to gather about you! The Wall Street Journal investigated how "Colleges Mine Data on Their Applicants."The title sounds ominous, but is this good or bad for you? What can you do to maximize the benefits of colleges' data mining?

Athena Advises

What's it all about? In two words: "demonstrated interest."Why do colleges care whether you have demonstrated interest in their school? In one word: "yield."Colleges—especially smaller liberal arts colleges—want to know whether you really understand their mission. Have you taken the time and trouble to find out who they are and what they really care about? Have you spent time on their website and come back more than once? Do you open their email and click on the links? Have you visited campus?Finally, if they offer you a precious seat in their incoming class, is there are reasonable chance you will come? Or are you just sending in what Athena Mentor calls a "paper airplane application," shooting off a page into the blue, with no idea where it will land?How do the colleges gather this information? The Wall Street Journal reports: "Enrollment officers at institutions including Seton Hall University, Quinnipiac University and Dickinson College know down to the second when prospective students opened an email from the school, how long they spent reading it and whether they clicked through to any links. Boston University knows if prospective students RSVP’d online to an event—and then didn’t show."Not every institution tracks every move you make. In fact, Yale College has specifically said that it does not even keep track of campus visitors. (Check their policy for the year in which you visit!)Nevertheless, Athena Advises that you carefully open any digital correspondence from colleges. Click on the links! You're interested, aren't you? If a college is holding a webinar or a student ambassador evening online, register! If you meet an admissions officer at a school college fair, send a follow-up note thanking that person for their visit and mentioning something attractive you learned by talking with him or her. Adulting 101: It's common courtesy to let a college know if you will not be coming to an event for which you have registered.Seek out ways to get to know colleges you're considering. This is not just about showing up in their database, but about making sure you're applying to the right colleges for the right reasons.Dr. Marlena CorcoranFounder and CEOAuthor of Year by Year to College, on amazon.com, amazon.de and many national amazon sitesAll quotations are from “Colleges Mine Data on Their Applicants.”